Divergent thinking: “By radiating branches from the center outwards, a mind map encourages your thoughts to behave in the same way so you can explore many possible solutions without limitation or restriction. Entering new ideas or building up existing ones is as easy as connecting another branch to either the central theme or main branch. The key elements of mind mapping, such as key words, colors and images, aid in drawing out novel ideas and perspectives that wouldn’t necessarily be revealed using more conventional note-taking techniques.”

Structured thinking: “Contrary to what some people believe, mind map is not ‘unstructured thinking.’ In fact, it’s one of the most structured forms of thinking possible, employing a number of organizing principles such as a central theme, basic ordering ideas, secondary and tertiary ideas, and so on. The central theme, in particular, keeps you focused on your main goal while still allowing you to think freely and expansively as you work around it. What this means is that you can be as generative as you like – letting your thoughts range far and wide – but can refer back to your central theme at any point so that you don’t go astray of your task… the mind map gives you the structure in which to organize and categorize your ideas in ways that are most relevant to what you’re trying to achieve.”

Holistic thinking: “A mind map allows you to get a ‘bigger picture’ view of all of your ideas and options so you can clearly see the relationships among them. Just as the branches in a mind map are all connected, so are all the ideas in relation to each other. This gives a mind map a depth and breadth of scope that a simple list of ideas can’t match. From this perspective it becomes easier to springboard off ideas to create new ones more rapidly and thoroughly.”

I knew that mind mapping supported creative thinking, but I haven’t seen such a clear, in-depth explanation until now. Based on my first look at GRASP the Solution, I can tell this is one of those must-have books for any serious mind mapper. Like the previous book that Griffiths co-wrote with Tony Buzan – Mind Maps for Business -  this one is full of practical advice and clear, and is focused with laser-like precision on the needs of business people today. I highly recommend this book!

GRASP the Solution will be released on October 19, 2011.

But what you may not know is that, under the hood, iMindMap has some very powerful and unique capabilities. Here are 8 of them:

1. Organic and speed modes: iMindMap offers the best of both worlds – a unique organic look and feel that gets you closer to the experience of creating hand-drawn mind maps than any other mind mapping program. At the same time, it offers a “speed mode,” which enables you to record your ideas quickly. In this mode, iMindMap draws and arranges your map topics for you, so you can focus on typing.

2. Presentation view: iMindMap’s well-designed presentation mode smoothly animates your maps so that they grow branch by branch, organically – ideal for capturing the attention of your audience. The program also offers a helpful “presenter” view: You as the presenter can see your notes and a simple menu bar for controlling your presentation, while your audience only sees your mind map.

3. Floating topics: These are ideal for doing a “brain dump” of your ideas; the Alt-T keyboard command can be used to quickly add them to your mind maps. Then, when you’re ready to structure your thoughts, simply drag and drop these floating topics to existing branches of your mind map.

4. Focus in and out: When you focus in on a selected branch, the program hides the rest of your map and treats the selected branch as a new central idea, with the child branches now turning into main branches. This enables you to focus your attention on completing that section of your mind map, without any unnecessary distractions. This is one of my favorite capabilities of mind mapping software (I have ADD tendencies), and I’m pleased to report that iMindMap is one of the programs that offers it.

5. Exceptional import and export capabilities: Most mind mapping programs enable you to import and export with a handful of other programs. But only iMindMap enables you to work with Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, Adobe Illustrator and with outline-based programs via the OPML (outline processor markup language) standard.

6. Freehand branches: If you’re utilizing iMindMap on a tablet PC or whiteboard, you can add branches with complex, hand-drawn shapes to your mind maps. This gives you creative freedom that most other programs don’t offer.

7. Audio notes: iMindMap’s audio note capability allows you to  record your voice and then attach it to a map branch. Instead of having to type the details of your ideas into topic notes, you can record an audio clip and continue adding content to your mind map. Audio notes are also useful in group brainstorming sessions. In addition, they can be exported as .wav files so that you can use them outside of the program, share them with others or even send them to be transcribed.

8. Screen capture tool: With this capability, you can take a “snapshot” of a section of your mind map and share it with colleagues or friends, without having to go through the exporting process. You can instantly capture part or all of your map and paste it as an image into other applications, such as Microsoft Word. That makes it ideal for embellishing your reports and business plans.

To learn more about iMindMap and what it can do for you, please click here.

• A presentation mode, which you can use to share your ideas branch by branch on any screen. Forward and back arrows enable you to move back and forth through your mind map, while a vertical column of topic names displayed on the left side of the screen enables you to jump to other vies of your map. Any notes attached to topics appear on the iPad’s screen, so you can refer to them during your presentation. This looks very slick!
• A variety of export formats, including image, PDF and iMindMap files. You can further edit maps created on iMindMap Mobile HD on the program’s desktop version.
• Speed mind map mode, which enables you to capture your thoughts quickly and easily; the app automatically arranges the new branches for you.

This app looks very promising, but at US$32.99, it’s definitely a premium-priced tool! Still, if you’re a user of the desktop version of iMindMap and own an iPad, then purchasing this powerful mobile mapping tool is a small investment, indeed.

“I have personally designed the ThinkBuzan Creativity Test, the first of its kind to be piloted to a mass audience. Building on the work of Ken Robinson and E. Paul Torrance, and my own leading research into creativity, my test is the culmination of 20th and 21st century knowledge of the brain and thought processes, and is guaranteed to produce unprecedented results,” he promises.

I took this test, and found it to be both fun and challenging. It included a number of brainstorming exercises, where you’re given several words and asked to come up with as many associations as you can within a defined period of time. Other questions do the same thing with combining shapes into new objects. And of course, there are a handful of demographic questions, aimed to help ThinkBuzan discern who is participating in the test.

Because I’m a big fan of anything related to creativity (I’m also the publisher of InnovationTools.com, the world’s largest website related to innovation, creativity and brainstorming), I can’t wait to see the results of this important research.

Click here to take the test; there’s also a form you can use to recommend the ThinkBuzan Creativity Test to a colleague.

“The problem that the average worker faces today is overload. They have too many e-mails, too many phone messages – just too much to read and do. They don’t know how to manage either themselves, time or the information. And that is one of the advantages of the mind map. The mind map cuts out 90 percent plus of the rubbish that most people unnecessarily deal with. What the brain needs for thinking and creativity and memory and all its major thinking processes is the key ideas, the key elements, the key words, the key concepts.”

In Buzan’s mind, linear note taking and left-brained forms of communications are relics of the past, and don’t help us to effectively cope with the torrent of information we face today:

“The normal ways of making notes and transferring information drown key ideas and words in reams of useless grammar and syntax… The modern worker is fundamentally using the wrong tools. They’re using information age tools, industrial age tools in the age of intelligence, where you have to be far more flexible, adept, fast and essential. You can’t waste time with all of the unnecessary information that is thrown at you.”

Where does power come from today? According to Buzan, being a creative and flexible thinker and problem solver. And the tool that is ideally designed for this modern age is, naturally, the mind map:

“The modern worker is in a different position than any worker in the history of the human race. It’s the most exciting time, because suddenly all of the information is available on the web. (Access to) information used to be the way in which you became powerful. The rulers of the past had information that other people didn’t. Then came the knowledge age, which said that knowledge is power…

“Now we are in the age of intelligence, where intelligence is power. If you can think, solve problem and are fast on your mental feet, if you are original, if you are flexible, if you have control of the strategic and the analytical elements of any situation, then you are a leader. The mind map allows you to do all that in a way that the brain is naturally designed to do.”

My interview with Tony Buzan covers a lot more ground, including details on the new ThinkBuzan system that he is introducing during his trip to the States next week, and what’s next for his firm’s highly successful iMindMap software.

Click here to access this exclusive interview (membership in the Mind Mapping Insiders group is required).

Buzan has helped millions to unlock their creativity, enhance their memory skills and expand their thought processes. He invented Mind Maps in the 1970s and they are now used by over 250 million people worldwide.

Workshops will be held in New York, Minneapolis and San Francisco; registration for them is now open.For more details, please see the U.S. Tour page on the ThinkBuzan website.

I’m planning to attend the workshop in Minneapolis, to meet the man who inspired the creation of this blog, as well as Chris Griffiths, the developer who came up with the idea for iMindMap who is now CEO of ThinkBuzan. It will be awesome to meet Tony in person, and to hear about the latest developments from his organization. From what I hear from his people, he’s looking forward to meeting me, too!

If you want to engage in a deeper study of the principles, applications and possibilities of visual mapping and visual thinking, here are 8 books that I have personally read and recommend:

The Mind Map Book: Radiant Thinking – Major Evolution in Human Thought by Tony and Barry Buzan: This book does a better job of explaining the principles behind mind mapping – and why it’s such an incredibly powerful tool – than any other book I have ever read. It’s filled with engaging insights and tips, which I devoured when I first read this book. During the past few years, I have extracted several of these tips on this blog, including posts about:

• Creating more powerful first-level topics for your mind maps and
• Buzan’s concept of basic ordering ideas.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam: The premise behind this book is simple: anybody with a pen and a scrap of paper can use visual thinking to work through complex business ideas. Everything in the book is broken down into steps, providing the reader with tools and rules to facilitate picture making. This is a fascinating book that I highly recommend.

I just discovered that Roam recently published (just a few weeks ago) a companion workbook, entitled Unfolding  the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures. It helps readers put Roam’s principles into practice with step-by-step guidelines. It’s filled with detailed case studies, guided do-it-yourself exercises, and plenty of blank space for drawing. I plan to pick it up and will write a post about it in the near future.

Marks & Meaning by Dave Gray: This unique “book in progress” (sort of like an alpha or beta version of a piece of software) is available via print-on-demand service Lulu.com, and is an evolving exploration of visual language, visual thinking and visual work practices. Dave’s entire focus is on helping today’s information worker (that describes just about all of us!) to understand how to present information visually, in a meaningful and compelling way. The book is chock full of hand-drawn information s and examples, which I found to be quite interesting. It contains blank pages, where you can add notes and insights gained from it. Dave also provides some very compelling explanations of his visual thinking theories. It’s a work in progress because Gray really wants readers of it to give him their feedback and to add their ideas to it – making the final product a stronger, more comprehensive resource. Click here for my review of Marks & Meaning.

Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More and Achieve Success in Business by Jamie Nast: This excellent book teaches the basics of how to capture your ideas using “idea maps” – basically, mind maps that are focused on recording your ideas.  While it tends to focus on hand-drawn maps, the principles and outlines are valuable for anyone doing software-produced maps, as well. In addition to teaching readers how to create idea maps, the book also covers topics such as applications of idea maps and how to use them in a team setting, and it also includes a number of maps produced by real-world business people. Click here to read my review of it.

Thinking Visually: Business Applications of 14 Core Diagrams by Malcolm Craig: If you are interested in learning more about the larger context within which visual mapping fits, then you will really enjoy this book. It gave me a deeper appreciation of some of the theory behind visual diagramming and why it is so effective as a business problem-solving tool. Visual tools covered in Thinking Visually include system maps, mind maps, relationship diagrams, and tree, influence, input-output, control, fishbone and force field diagrams. Finally, Craig offers contains a wealth of practical advice on how to use the diagrams to manage information overload. Craig’s writing style is highly accessible and informative. Put this one on your must-read list! Click here for my review of it.

See What You Think! How to Work Better and Faster with VisiMap by Norah Bolton: This e-book is filled with practical examples of mind mapping in action (both hand drawn and software produced). Norah believes that visual mapping represents a new “language” for communicating ideas. Seen as a type of “language” for representing ideas, visual mapping literally makes it possible for us to consider our ideas in powerful new ways that aren’t possible when they are represented in the conventional linear fashion. Click here to read my review of it.

Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software: This is a popular e-book that I wrote. It summarizes business applications and best practices for utilizing mind mapping software, and contains a wealth of ideas, tips and strategies that you can put to work today to increase your effectiveness and efficiency – no matter which software program you use. I didn’t include it in this list to give it a shameless plug, but because it has been a popular resource for visual mappers during the last few years.

What books do you recommend?

This new book, which I expect to receive shortly from the Buzan organization, is divided into four parts:

1. Mind maps: The ultimate business tool
2. Mind mapping for core business skills
3. Mind mapping for better business thinking
4. Mind mapping for better business outcomes

Just from the section titles alone, you can tell that this isn’t going to be one of those highly theoretical, “pie in the sky” types of business books, but one that is focused on helping you to be more productive and to contribute to your organization at a much higher level. I can’t wait to dig into this book!

Buzan Online has also launched a website as a companion to the book, which contains a vast selection of resources to help you develop superior capabilities in all core business areas. As well as Mind Map templates, guides and articles, you also get exclusive access to an array of free videos featuring the book’s authors, Tony and Chris.

I recently took a look at this collection of resources, and I must say, they are very comprehensive and professionally produced. They’re ideal for executives who have heard about mind mapping software, but aren’t quite sure what all the excitement is about. Or if you have started to utilize one of these productivity tools, but aren’t quite sure how to apply it to more aspects of your work.

Very few details on its functionality are available at this time, but screen shots from the affiliate newsletter show an app that carries over the organic look and feel of iMindMap to this popular mobile computing platform.

If you want to know more about the planned functionality and release date of this app, you can sign up to receive notifications via e-mail here.

I can’t wait to play around with this fascinating new application. I hope it integrates well with the desktop version of iMindMap!

A powerful new presentation mode: iMindMap 4.0 will offer a powerful new presentation mode, making it possible for users to share their ideas visually. It has some neat capabilities, including a two-screen setup – so you see a special presenter view with a menu bar at the bottom of the screen that controls your presentation and notes for your reference, but your audience only sees your map. Also, the presenter view displays a timer, which shows you how much time you have spent on the current slide and the presentation in total. You can click on links within your maps to display linked files and web pages.  If your map contains links to child maps, those are displayed in your presenter menu, so you can jump back and forth easily between the parent and child maps. The program will even remember where you were in the parent map, so you can continue from the point where you left off – nice!  Finally, Buzan Online says that iMindMap’s new presentation mode supports a large number of peripherals for controlling presentations – something that I believe is a first for mind mapping software.

In practice, this presentation toolset worked very smoothly for me. If you think iMindMap’s organic interface is a pleasure to use in map mode, just wait until you try this new presentation view! Clicking on the forward button of the presentation toolbar causes your map branches to smoothly and organically “grow” into place. It looks very elegant, among the best mind mapping software presentation modes I’ve seen. I created a video (below) so you can see how smoothly this works:

Click here to view the video in a new window.

Enhanced drag and drop: iMindMap’s drag and drop capabilities have been expanded for version 4. You can now drag text or images from other applications into your mind maps. Shortcut keys have been added that give you a higher level of control over what’s being created as you drop external content into your maps.

Audio notes: iMindMap 4 will enable you to add all recordings directly to your branches as another way to enhance your creative process. In other words, instead of having to type the detail of your idea into notes, you can record an audio clip and continue adding branches to your map, even as you dictate the details of your previous idea into the audio file. The developer also recommends utilizing this feature in group brainstorming sessions, where participants may be generating many ideas rapidly. You can record what’s going on in the room, and then listen to the recording later to add further details to your map.

Text mode: iMindMap v4.0 includes a revamped text mode, which displays images, notes and links. Any text-based content can be edited from within text mode, and images can be edited using iMindMap’s built-in sketch application. Basically, anything you can do in map view you can now do in text view.

Box branches: Previous versions of iMindMap placed in topic text directly on the branches, following their curves. This was in keeping with one of Tony Buzan’s core principles of mind mapping: each topic should only be a single word, to maximize the opportunity for further free association and creativity. For those of you who don’t want to be shackled by this limitation, iMindMap 4 adds “box branches,” topic text that is encircled by a rounded rectangle. The developer says that this feature is useful for adding quotes, product names, processes or definitions to your mind maps. To create a box branch, you simply hold down “S” key when dragging a new branch from an existing one – nice! Normal “organic” branches can be converted to box branches via a right-click command.

Floating topics: iMindMap v4 offers the capability to create floating topics, ideal for capturing ideas on the fly.  This type of map topic can be added using a keyboard hotkey (CTRL-T), making it easy to quickly add ideas to your map as you think of them without breaking your creative flow. You can later move these ideas into the proper locations within your mind map.

Simplified toolbar: One of the primary goals of the developers of iMindMap 4 was to add more functionality to the program, while at the same time simplifying the toolbars. Why pursue such a paradoxical goal? Buzan Online views iMindMap primarily as a thinking tool, and wants to enable the mind mapping process without the technology getting in the way. To achieve this goal, they implemented a floating pop-up toolbar that reminds me of the “ghosted” toolbar that appears at the cursor location whenever you’re editing text in Microsoft Word 2007. This places the most common tools in the workspace where they’re needed, and reduces the need to mouse over to the program’s top toolbar to select commands. It’s a first for mind mapping software, and should be a real productivity enhancer!

Enhanced Word import: iMindMap 4.0 will enable you to import any Microsoft Word document, using the document’s heading styles as a guide – and converts them appropriate topic and sub-topic hierarchies. I tried this with a simple document with some Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles, plus some body copy, and iMindMap 4 did a faithful job of converting it into topics, subtopics and notes. This feature will only work if your documents utilize Word’s heading styles (I don’t use them in any of my documents).

Printing improvements for large maps: One of the challenges faced by all developers and users of mind mapping software is how to print large maps effectively. If you try to print a large map on a single page, you end up with topic text is so small that it is unreadable. To get around this limitation, iMindMap 4.0 will enable you to print your map as one branch per page (with its associated sub-topics), plus an overview map. This is a clever solution to the problem, because the printouts give you both a high-level view for context, and a series of detail views of your map by major content area.

Auto-image find: This is a neat new capability: It uses keywords associated with each image in its massive online image library to help you select an appropriate image for your map. Simply select your branch, click the “find image” icon on the new branch pop up menu and iMindMap will automatically try and find appropriate images.

Conclusion

If you do a lot of presentations with mind mapping software, you may want to take a serious look at iMindMap version 4.0, which will be launched in May. During the month of April, Buzan Online is running a special promotion: If you purchase iMindMap 3 before the end of April, you will automatically receive a licensed copy of version 4 when it’s released. Click here to learn more.